Harbor Freight 50-ft Air Hose Reel

See what issues exist almost three years after the purchase. Originally purchased in June of 2014.
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[@1995dresser]

Yeah have the same one I know from experience with even the high end hose reels that you take out what you need and let it lay on the floor and make sure it ratchets into the reel and stops before dragging the hose to where you need it

[@ModernDIYProjects]

I have the same reel and still have the original hose after all these many years. All I do is wipe it off and keep it clean and it seems to help. I agree it is really heavy, so I suggest to use carriage bolts with nuts and washer to make sure it stays in place. I did a video on my channel where I mounted it under my work bench to prevent it dropping on me. Didn't want it over my head.

[@onecake34244]

What the heck fitting is on the included 3 foot hose? One end has an odd fitting. I did not use that hose anyway. Not sure what use it is, but I am not an air plumbing expert... mainly use mine for inflating tires and small air tools

[@johnbaumgartner7731]

Just an FYI, I purchased one of the Black Diablo hoses a year ago and it is already cracking.

[@mainelyelectric]

I wipe down my rubber hoses with fluid film spray and let it soak in to the rubber to protect it. It’s lanolin based.

[@richardkenworthy9312]

My hose had some kind of a oily substance on it when I bought it,I used simple green to clean it .

[@michaelmorrell6257]

I got mine 2 years ago. The rubber coating is completely dry rotted and it keeps blowing out. It is not in a sunny location. It is in a dark corner of my garage mounted to the wall. I will be replacing the hose this summer with a better grade hose. I the good thing is that the reel itself works great.

[@P17F0]

great hose reel. the hose lasted about a year. then I replaced it with the 30ft diablo.

[@mainelyelectric]

What your calling polyurethane looks much more like PVC! Polyurethane hoses no matter the brand are transparent colors and don’t stiffen up in cold weather. I own several! PVC does stiffen in cold weather a LOT! The only thing I use PVC hoses for is running air hoses on walls and ceilings, etc

[@Vicos]

I tend to misspeak at times.

[@escaflowne33055]

well hose life has many variables to why some last longer than others. some have had the same HF past 3 years with none of the visible damage you have. without seeing your daily habits or monitoring your garages temperature levels, no one can really say. I work in a diesel shop and can say within 3 years the +100 dollars hoses are damaged. yeah the rubber hoses do better in cold temps, but still dry out, and breakdown if you drag them a lot.

[@mib20000]

why no companies sell the reels with no hose.. I have a goodyear hose

[@rico1319]

Very nicely done good information thank you very much!! 👍👍👍😎🇨🇱

[@broken1965]

TIP!!! REMOVE DRUM FROM BASE 1 SNAP RING I have mounted industrial reels weights can exceed 150lbs remove everthing from base and make your life safe. add another 2x10 over stringer use threaded rod and sandwich stringer dont use lag bolts use 1/2" or 3/8 grade 5 hex bolts.

[@dannycrow4193]

The reel that I have from hf is great, however, the hose started cracking within a week. The weak point is the red hose it will need replacing very soon.

[@phillip9392]

Can this be used for a pressure washer hose?

[@mainelyelectric]

No though they make them! Not at Harbor freight though!

[@steveh2667]

I have worked in several different shops, automotive and at present aircraft hangar and every hose reel has certain spots on the reel where they stop. And high highly doubt anyone could have been killed when you had your brain fart! it was a good video though.

[@Vicos]

Had anyone been standing in the doorway and hit in the head with the end of that hose, they would have been very seriously injured or killed. I was there, you weren't.

[@steveh2667]

Vicos your absolutely right, I'm sure it was worse in person and i wouldn't have wanted to be hit by that. Didn't mean to be an ass if that's the way it sounded.

[@TheBrokenLife]

I used to work for Reelcraft and can confirm the springs in hose reels are no joke and have some serious energy behind them. The scary part is when the hose doesn't go running back into the shop and the reel comes to find you instead! You are correct that they only latch in certain positions. That's just how the ratchet mechanism in all of them work. I've trained myself to listen carefully and make sure the hose goes slack before I let it go. If I'm going way out in the drive way, I do the same thing you do and just run it all out on the floor first. It's actually easier than dragging it off of the reel at an odd angle anyhow. As a side note, if your spring ever does get weak, just manually wrap the hose around the drum a couple times (you may have to take the stopper off to do that). That will add tension back into the spring and is a standard maintenance procedure. I've had my oldest Reelcraft reel for 12 years and I've had to do that 3 times. No issues yet and spring failures were super rare in the service department when I worked for them. The only ones I knew about had died of rust from being on the back of a service truck for ages. Spring steel is pretty much spring steel even if it is a HF reel, so I'm sure it would be fine too.

[@DowntownMotoBrown]

I had a hard time mounting mine to a wall. Any trick as the four hole were are to get access to...

[@Vicos]

If I was going to mount it to a wall, I might first just bolt the unit to a 2x10 (or whatever) and then lag bolt that to the wall studs. Make the 2x10 long enough so it hits at least two wall studs, plus an inch or 2 on each end to prevent splitting when you drive in the bolts to the studs. You might have to countersink the bolt heads on the back of the 2x10 that goes up against the wall (if you have wallboard up).

[@brenthann2623]

"if not killed"?

[@ulfmusskacken]

sure, you could kill someone with a butter knife if you tried hard enough. Why are you surprised?

[@CodyLeon]

thank you for posting this video

[@MichaelJones-xp8kf]

For $60.00 with coupon. It's a deal. Hose should last at least couple years. When it does go. Put a better hose on there.

[@lazlowjenkins8945]

Killed lmao

[@chevy9599]

Junk

[@Indydrone]

lmao killed